The Time I Fell In Love With Oysters

by jenna on October 8, 2010

Going out to eat is important to me, specifically to try new dishes I wouldn’t normally make at home. I’ll very rarely order something like chicken or pasta out, just because I know I can make it myself at home for a fraction of the cost.

Instead, I like to be adventurous at restaurants. I’ll try anything once, and thankfully I was born with a stomach of steel and a voracious appetite to boot.

Squid ink pasta with grilled octopus? I’m down.

Pork belly sliders with sweet tea barbecue sauce? Serve it up.

Louisiana hot oysters? Yes, please.

All this is leading me to tell you that last night’s dinner was a meal to remember.

When we were there on Sunday, they told us that on Thursday they have one dollar oysters and live music. Sounds like a win, right?

Except for the fact that in my past life, I’ve never really “done” oysters. I know I mentioned this before, but they’ve always reminded me of snot from the sea…or jello from the sea, your pick. I hated how cold they were and how they tasted like dirty salt water as they slid down your throat.

But that being said, this place was known for their oysters, so I figured I better buck up and try again. I mean if you’re ever going to eat oysters, a small funky saloon on the Northern California coast is the place to do it.

So we sat down. Opened up a delicious bottle of wine that I had brought from home and ordered up a dozen to start….a few with garlic butter, a couple baked with bacon and roasted garlic, some Louisiana hots and two totally raw with a lemon-honey-mustard vinegarette.

I have to admit, I was a little hesitant when the oysters arrived. But I fearlessly took a long sip of Sauvignon Blanc and then slurped back the first….a Louisiana Hot.

All at once, an explosion of flavors took place in my mouth. The oyster wasn’t cold; it was warm, and swimming in a buttery sea of hot sauce and lemon. As it slid down the back of my throat, I smiled, raised my tiny oyster fork in the air, and declared it to be “the foodie’s buffalo wing”.

And then we ordered half a dozen more.

And drank lots of wine. And ate piping hot jalapeno corn muffins that had only come out of the oven three minutes before.

I went on to order pan seared salmon with mango-jalapeno salsa, jasmine rice and the best green beans I’ve ever eaten at a restaurant. I think they must have rolled them in garlic butter and they rocked my world in a way that no green bean has ever done before.

Later, as Almanzo drove us home, I complained that I felt like there was “a sea of wine in my stomach with angry salmon trying to eat oysters” but it was well worth it. Sometimes you just have to sacrifice your personal comfort and well being for new foodie adventures….and I’m okay with that.

I got home, climbed into bed and feel wonderful today. Ready for another dozen!

i’m the same way at restaurants: go big or cook at home. you’ve gotta! on that note, i’ve tried oysters before and sadly wasn’t a fan. it’s one of those foods i wanna like but am too skeeved out by the texture. maybe the ambiance (or the northern california funk, as you call it) of this place would’ve sold my texture-buds. anywho, looks like a fun dinner! enjoyed reading this

My dad used to eat raw oysters as we were frying them for christmas eve. I was always grossed out. and my sister and I would run screaming to our mom. Ha! Now give me some hot sauce and a squirt of lemon and I’m right there with him. I LOVE oysters.

I’ve tried oysters once but I think I blocked the experience from my memory because I don’t remember anything about the actual incident. I remember the taunting before and the “let’s never do that again” after but everything in between is a complete blank.

Mmmmm. I adore oysters. My father was never so proud of me as a child as when I was five and slurping down a dozen on the half shell. Some man walked up to my family, and incredulously asked my daddy if his little daughter in a smocked dress was eating raw oysters. My beaming daddy just replied, “Why yes she is!”. I was a strange child to say the least

Oh that whole meal looks blissful to me….my favorite wine was included too! I missed the details on that lovely salad…did you have that too? I seriously want to go here now….I think I’ve had oysters once (can’t recall?) but i definitely want to try that salmon and those biscuits! And I love a nice, garlicky green bean!

Good oysters are hard to beat. I love some ice cold oysters with a crisp glass of white wine- takes the edge off beautifully. I can’t remember when I first fell in love with oysters, but I will say that I miss those chilly winter oyster roasts in the low country with a bucket of steamy oysters and a glass of ice cold beer…..so good.

I agree. sometimes feeling uneasy or uncomfortable is worth eating friggin amazing food. My dinner last night is an example of this…however, the hour walk home with my boyf cured me btw i had amazing gourmet jalepeno poppers and a burger topped with pancetta! amazing

I LOVE oysters! Glad to hear you like them too! My favorite is to put one on a saltine cracker and cover it with cocktail sauce (and a drop or two of some hot stuff!) YUM! I fell in love with oysters when an old boyfriend had an ‘oyster bake” for New Years! He steamed hundreds of oysters in a turkey fryer (yes, we are from the south) then threw them all on a picnic table and we dug in! Delicious! I think I ate my body weight in oysters that night!

I THINK I like oysters! But sometimes I wonder if I just LOVE cocktail sauce… I’ve only ever tried them raw though. The ones you had sound really good. I like the photos from last night. Really pretty!

My friends and I took a small fishing boat to a secluded spit on the Puget Sound in Washington one summer and unknowingly camped near an oyster farm . Woke up in the morning, the tide was out, and we had oysters for breakfast! (The night before for dinner we consumed nothing but beer and crab that had been caught and cooked earlier that morning. It was the most magical camping trip of my life.)

I’ve never had oysters but I agree that they look like sea snot. Still, though, ugly food can taste great (as you found). I had escargot for the first time this year and while it looked nasty (and is snail-ew) it was really, really good.

I love oysters, hot or cold, steamed, baked, fried or raw. Yum! I like to put a lot of realy good spicy horseradish on the raw ones. I think I would have foregone the entree and stuk to the wine, oysters and cornbread if I was there. Speaking of being there, I want to be there NOW!